Abstract:
Language is one of the most important and multipurpose faculties employed by humans; and, it seems that there are some general uses employed by all. For instance, Dance and Larson (1976) find three main functions: the mentation function, language as a means to develop cognitive ability (112); the regulatory function, "the basis for the refinement and extension to humans of the host of methods of behavior regulation that operate upon all living organisms" (129); and. the linking function, the way in which language is used to create and maintain one's personal identity and to socialize.With this, the importance of language to any group, gender-based or otherwise, seems obvious. However, it does seem as though gender influences language use. The concept of gender, an important variable in many fields of research, should not be confused with biological sex. The male/female distinction is, for the most part, inescapable and based on one's reproductive system. Gender (man/woman), however, is founded on sociological expectations. Wood and Dindia (1998), regarding this subject write, "Gender is a social, symbolic construction that expresses the meanings a society confers on biological sex" (20).The sociological differences often associated with the two genders seem infinite: from simple differences such as clothing and body adornment to more complex ideals regarding roles in the home and society at large-to the ways in which the genders interact socially. Such differences are evident everywhere and perpetuated in popular culture (ex., Gray, 1992). One aspect of daily life, in particular, that appears to be affected by gender is language.Many sociolinguistic studies have been conducted that have used gender as a variable. For instance, Trudgill (1998) discusses an apparent association with gender and different pronunciations. Eisikovits (1998) also finds a gender-related separation in language production but for grammatical forms, rather than pronunciation. The list of studies conducted using this variable are numerous (see James, 1996). However, these studies have often come to one interesting consensus: women, more often than men, use prestige forms (Chambers & Trudgill, 1998). Prestige forms are those aspects of a language that, for whatever social reasons, are held to a higher standard by a majority of speakers. The reasons provided for such variations are as numerous as the studies, but all seem to be social in nature, which is not surprising since language is a social tool. It is used to interact with others and will reflect the social beliefs and constraints of a society.This paper is an investigation of the socially different gender roles and the affects that they have on language and interaction. Specifically, this will be a study devoted to the form and function of question strategies within the speech of women. However, unlike previous studies this investigation will look at the questioning strategies employed by three female siblings.